The Polish lower house, the Sejm, passed the bill in a 441-11 vote, with one abstention, on Thursday night, state news agency PAP reported.
Under the bill, all children’s institutions will have to comply with a set of child protection standards, according to officials.
These include vetting new staff for sex crimes and child violence crimes, as well as drafting and implementing a code of practice for safe staff-child relations, the PAP news agency reported.
New procedures for dealing with suspected child abuse
Moreover, the bill foresees new procedures for public agencies to deal with suspected child abuse cases, such as violence from staff, domestic abuse or peer violence.
Under the plan, the social policy and justice ministers will issue guidelines “for assessing risk to the life and health of a child” to be used by social workers, police officers and healthcare personnel, the PAP news agency reported.
Mandatory review of serious child abuse cases
Moreover, public agencies will be required to review serious cases of child abuse in order to improve safeguarding practice, officials said.
This requirement is designed “to foster a culture of learning among institutions and practitioners about what needs to be changed and how.”
The new bill to combat child abuse has been submitted to parliament by Sovereign Poland, a junior partner in Poland’s ruling conservative coalition, the PAP news agency reported.
The legislation was drafted in response to the tragic death of an 8-year-old boy who was killed by his stepfather in the southern city of Częstochowa earlier this year, according to officials.
The child died in hospital on May 9 after suffering prolonged physical abuse “with special cruelty” from his stepfather, which was tolerated by the boy’s mother, authorities said.
Both the stepfather, who has a previous criminal record for child abuse, and the mother, are facing a life sentence, the PAP news agency reported.
The bill to combat child abuse now goes to the Senate, the upper house of parliament, for consideration.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, interia.pl, wprost.pl
